anyone try a hornbow without grooving the horn

[stuckinthemud]

I was chatting with someone on an unrelated topic on another forum when he stated (and he is very knowledgeable on historic archery techniques) that grooving was only carried out in one region and that, historically, most (asiatic) hornbows were not grooved.  Any one know how true this might be,  I know everyone everywhere grooves horn and core now-a-days, but, it would be a huge time-saver if some types of bow did not need to be grooved

[DC]

From what I understand from Adams book they didn't use matching grooves but they did use grooves. I guess what it boils down to is if you are spending all this time making a hornbow anything you can do to insure that it doesn't disassemble itself is a positive thing. I know I thought of using no grooves but then I thought if the grooves are going to make it more durable I'd better do it.

[bownarra]

You can make a completely non grooved bow but you need modern epoxy to keep it stuck together
Grooves were used on pretty much all hornbows for good reason. Your friend has been misinformed. DC is right about the matching grooves - this is likely what your friend has either read somewhere or has been misinformed. Matching grooves are the modern 'invention' not grooving itself.